Patrick MacGill

He hailed from Glenties County Donegal
And was hired out to farmer before he was thirteen
And later on he readily did recall
The hardships he endured and the things he'd seen.

He went to Scotland worked with navvy gangs
And in a work shack his first verses he wrote
And for success he did not have long to wait
As fame came early to the navvy poet.

In his autobiographical novel 'The Children Of The Dead End'
He told of the hardships endured at the time
By boys who worked as hard as full grown men
And were worn out before they reached their prime.

He told of characters like 'Moleskin Joe'
He'd lose his week's wage in a poker game
He laboured hard for every bob he earned
But never had a penny to his name.

In his time there were many great writers
Such as Kipling, Masefield, Eliot and Yeats,
James Joyce, Eugene O Neill and Hemingway
As well as many other literary greats.

And though literary critics may not rate him amongst these
They tend to under rate Patrick MacGill
I enjoyed his verses as a school going boy
One of my favourites then and a favourite still.